I have been following this thread very closely. This seems to be about the easiest swap yet.
I am interested but I am not sure what you are selling for $120. What do I get for my money? Are the mounting brackets included? If not how much?
All you would get for $120 is the two rack-to inner tie rod adapters. I have not got the Mount to "production" yet. I am not a business, this is a hobby for me. So I am sorry if this is a little "lean" But I am working on helping others with their hobby too.
All you would get for $120 is the two rack-to inner tie rod adapters. I have not got the Mount to "production" yet. I am not a business, this is a hobby for me. So I am sorry if this is a little "lean" But I am working on helping others with their hobby too.
I am sorry if my post rubbed you the wrong way. It was not ment to. I under stand you are not a business. I just didn't understand what you were selling.
I am interested in a set.
------------------ Ernie
1988 Silver GT One owner 47000 miles. Soon to be a 3.4 DOHC powered.
I am sorry if my post rubbed you the wrong way. It was not ment to. I under stand you are not a business. I just didn't understand what you were selling.
I am interested in a set.
No, you did not rub me the wrong way. I was not snapping at you. I just wanted to make sure that you understand were I am coming from. I am hoping to help others enjoy the hobby of Fieros. And that I will try to help as much as I can. I just dont have an entire "kit" to sell. But if I could do that I would.No bad feelings.
OK, the rack adapters I made are for an 84-94 ZR1 Vette. The rack I used is a 224HD and is listed for use with the 16 inch wheels and heavy duty Vette suspension. So any Vette rack from 84-94 will work with the adapters. It does not matter if it is a ZR1 or not. The ZR1 is just a faster steering ratio. It is also called a "sport" rack.
Sent you a PM Rick. It includes an idea of mine for reducing the risk of us being able to wrongly position a steering rack mount bracket. call me crazy...
Sent you a PM Rick. It includes an idea of mine for reducing the risk of us being able to wrongly position a steering rack mount bracket. call me crazy...
Thanks Iwan
This is a good point. It is absolutely critical to have the mount welded in the proper position. That is a part of the R&D that I need to do for a "commercial" mount. I will give dimensions to those needing them, but I have a plan to produce a paper or card board template to locate the mount. The mount itself will be a fool proof mount, that is, the mount will only go on the X member one way. The only real measurement needed to locate the mount rack is for the side to side location. The spool angle and other critical measurements will be in the mount design itself.
So far the "commercial" mounts look good. They will not even need a template to align. I designed them to use "landmarks" on the X member. Theoretically you can just set it on the X member next to the designated landmark and tack weld it on. Take a few measurements with the rack in place, then remove the rack and weld on the mount No price on them yet. And with the Vette rack only one mount is needed. The right side stock Fiero steering rack mount is used.
I'm definitely interested in a kit. I plan on doing a V8 swap and want power steering. I have no idea how I'll mount the power steering pump, but one insurmountable hurdle at a time, please.
I'm getting 13 sets made, it is still possible to get a few more made but even if I order more the cost won't go down that much unless I order a big batch of them. I'm not sure how long it will take me to get more as I would need another big order for a shop or I need to get my own lathe to make these on my own. So, yeah I will probably make more, just not sure how long it will take for the next batch.
I have the first mount just about ready. I need to take out an X menber and try it out.
I need to drill the holes and weld up the seams.
It is as easy as cutting off the original driver side rack mount and setting this one in its place and weld. All of the math and such was already done for you BUT I will not make allot of them. They just are not going to be profitable for me. I don't have the equipment to mass produce them and make money. If you ordered a set of adapters and want a mount I will make you one. Price= allot
Well, if you have any available from your current run, let me know. Otherwise, let me know when you make your next run. I am very interested, but only if I can get the mount and the adapters.
Until I find a way to make the mounts quicker and more efficient they are going to be $75 shipped and I can put them in the same box as the adapters. If you do decide to buy the mount it will vastly simplify the conversion because it will align the rack in the proper position for you. The mount requires no template, jig, or alignment aids it simply clips onto the x member and weld.
I'm sending out some more pm's, I am sending pm's to let you know when I get your payment. So, if you sent one and I didn't pm you I haven't got it yet.
I'm going to be gone for the next couple days, so as soon as I can I will get back on this.
OK just a quick update on the parts. I have been putting people on a list in order of payment, not order placement. So I am now at a cross road. I either need to order more parts for all of the people that have expressed interest, or just hold off on ordering more adapters till I actually get the money? Please don't take this the wrong way, I just want people to know that I only ordered 13 sets of the adapters but have received more orders than adapters, but fewer payments than adapters. So when the adapters come in ( hopefully in a week or so ) I will only send them to the people that pay, in the order the payment comes in. As of right now I do not have enough adapters ordered to fill all the requests that I have received So I may need to place another order for the shop to make more? Or I will send back the money to the people that did not get here in time? I am not reserving the parts for people unless I have there money. If I have your money I have adapters for you, as of right now. But, if I get to a point were more people send money than adapters, I may need to send back your money. Sorry for the inconvenience, but I just cant pay out of pocket for a bunch of adapters and hold on to them till they get sold. I know it is an inconvenience to wait for 4 weeks to get your parts, but that is what will have to happen if more than 13 people send money after the shop makes the first batch. I may still have time to up the production number if I get the commitments ?
I also took more pics of the entire installation so people can do a step by step instal of the parts I send out. For the ones that want to do the entire swap from scratch themselves, you will also benefit from the pics. With my adapters and mount there are MINIMAL measurements required for the swap. But for the do it yourselfer you will need to take some careful measurements to get the rack in the correct position.
I have a few pics of the mount that I will send out.
It is as easy as removing the old driver side mount from the 88 front X member and putting this one on.
You can install the rack and mount the right hand side stock mount and install the driver side mount bolt. This will help line up the mount for tack weld.
The very close fitting mount will really help place the rack in the correct position. Notice the small hole cut out in the Xmember just inside the mount. That hole is for clearance for the steering rack rubber mount. If this hole is not cut out , the left side of the rack will stick up to high. The hole allows the rack to settle into the correct position.
[This message has been edited by Rickady88GT (edited 05-20-2006).]
I will post some pics for the do it your selfers. I don't have my prototype adapters here so I cant post the dimensions.
The mount will be at a 65* angle to the top surface of the Xmember. This is CRITICAL because the steering input shaft has a very narrow "window" that it can aim for. The window that the steering shaft needs to aim for is the fire wall hole that the steering shaft comes out thru.
If your mount is at the correct angle the very end of the steering input shaft will be 2.2 from the Xmember mount surface to the exact center of the steering input shaft.
You can see that the entire rack will have plenty of space for clearance. No less than .5 clearance.
Now this is kind of hard to explain. If you look straight down at the A arm mount, the exact center of the rack gear will line up with the rear edge of the front mount. I took this pic just off center so you can see what I am talking about. If you look perfectly straight down at the flat edge of the mount, the red arrow and yellow center line of the rack will line up. IF the rack is mounted correctly
Other side.
[This message has been edited by Rickady88GT (edited 05-23-2006).]
Yes the mount is $75 shipped, but you only need One. The stock right hand side Fiero mount is used. The left hand side Fiero mount is cut off, then weld on the custom mount.
I also decided to have some dust boot extensions made for the right hand side dust boot. The longer extension will stretch the boots to the limit. So I designed an extension to help relieve any undo stress caused by the longer extension. If you ordered a set of adapters from me you will get the extension with the adapters free of charge. It looks like the Cady STS rack has longer dust boots, so if you want to replace the dust boots during the swap you may want to look into replacing the Fiero boots with the newer Cady boots. They also have the vent cross over pipe that will help boot life too. You just need to make your own custom pipe to connect the two boots.
So I may need to place another order for the shop to make more? Or I will send back the money to the people that did not get here in time? I am not reserving the parts for people unless I have there money. If I have your money I have adapters for you, as of right now. But, if I get to a point were more people send money than adapters, I may need to send back your money.
